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Academic Integrity
Guidelines
Island Trees High School
The Island Trees School District seeks
to create an academic environment based on integrity,
honesty, and hard work. Students are expected to maintain
high standards of personal honesty at all times, presenting
only their own work for class assignments, quizzes and
tests, reports and projects. Academic integrity is violated
when a student obtains credit for, or is evaluated on, work
that is not his or her own.
The two most common forms of academic
dishonesty that we encounter in the classroom are cheating
and plagiarism. The administration, faculty, and student
body all work together to develop a school culture which
praises and fosters academic integrity. Cheating and
plagiarism limit a student’s ability to realize his or her
own potential, destroy the trust between a teacher and a
student, and compromise other students’ academic standing.
Academic Dishonesty
Plagiarism is
using someone else’s words, thoughts, or ideas as one’s own,
whether intentional or not. This information, whether in
the form of a quotation, paraphrase or summary, must be
properly documented. Some examples of plagiarism include but
are not limited to:
- Using an idea from another writer
without giving credit to the writer, even if summarizing
thoughts, words, images or sounds.
- Copying word for word from any
source including books, other students’ papers, or
cutting and pasting information from the Internet
without citing the source. This includes copying a
whole paper, an entire paragraph or just a few sentences
or phrases. Basically, turning in another’s work as
your own.
- Copying directly, without making
changes, alterations or adaptations from a drawing,
painting, illustration, photographic image or graphic
symbol without citing the source.
- Using any language translation
program, including but not limited to online translation
websites, computer translation software, and portable
electronic translators.
Avoiding Plagiarism: All
but common knowledge must be cited in the MLA, APA or other
recognized format. To ensure student success, these formats
will be explained and addressed in English classes at each
level. Rules and examples for citing sources are available
in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers,
available in the library and on the Island Trees High School
Library webpage (www.islandtrees.org).
When in doubt, students are encouraged to check with their
teacher or the school librarian.
Cheating is to
deceive or mislead someone, especially for personal gain; to
break the rules in an attempt to secure an unfair
advantage. Some examples of cheating include (but are not
limited to):
- Referring to unauthorized notes or
devices during a quiz or test which may include but not
be limited to the use of Cliff Notes, crib sheets,
personal notes, electronic inscriptions, and/or the use
of electronic devices used to store, receive, share or
retrieve information.
- Obtaining copies of a test or
information about the contents of a test without the
teacher’s knowledge.
- Copying answers from another
student during a test or exam, or as part of a project,
homework assignment, class work or lab work.
- Assisting another student to cheat
by allowing him/her to copy answers during a test or
exam, or as part of a project, homework assignment,
class work or lab work.
Consequences
When dealing with cases of academic
dishonesty, (cheating and/or plagiarism) the following
actions will be taken:
- The student’s parents or guardians
will be notified of the infraction.
- The teacher will assign a “0” for
the assignment.
- If the assignment is only worth
one grade, it will remain a zero. If the assignment is
weighted more than one test grade, the student will be
given an opportunity to redo and resubmit the paper or
project for reevaluation. The grade for the originally
submitted work will be one “0”, and the grade on the
subsequently resubmitted assignment, since it is
technically turned in past the due date, will not exceed
a grade of 85.
Repeated Offenses
Repeated violations of the Academic
Integrity Guidelines may have a significant negative result,
impacting on such things as college recommendations, removal
from leadership positions in the school community, and the
loss of any award recognition or opportunity that might
normally be expected during the school year.
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In order to compose a document that reflects best
practices, the Academic Integrity Committee
conducted extensive research on academic integrity
and plagiarism. After examining existing guidelines,
consulting with a number of local districts, and
reflecting on the needs of our building, we adopted
information from other districts’ policies when
composing our document. We are confident our
"Academic Integrity Guidelines" will reinforce the
high standards expected of students across grade
levels and subject areas.
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